DIY Family Photo Shoot

Sometimes I just want a nice photo of all of us together.  I don't want to have to schedule a photographer weeks in advance, or set aside an entire day to take pictures... which can be a little stressful when kids are involved - remember Emma's Christmas card shoot day?  A couple of weeks ago on a Sunday morning we left for church 20 minutes early and stopped in a beautiful spot to take a couple of family photos.  Just us.  Well, us, my tripod, my camera and my camera remote. 

First I jumped out of the car and did a test photo to see how the light looked.  Pretty.

Photographers say that morning and evening light is best - so I hear.

Next I sent Mike and Emma out to pick a good spot while I worked on making adjustments to the settings.

Trying to get it focused...












Sweet moments with Mike and Emma talking about the leaves.

This was our first attempt at the whole family.

After I run back to look, I see that I'm not very sly with the remote.




And we're out of focus.



We'll try it again.

Better focus and hidden remote, but posed a little funny... keep trying.

We're getting a little better.

And a couple of just the girls - since we hardly have any with the two of us...

See that leaf mid-fall?!

 We try one more spot.


This was facing West (east in the photos before).  I wanted to play with the light a little bit - wasn't sure what would give us the richest color.

 This might by my winner.

Or this one - I love that we're looking more relaxed and easy.

Done! 


I hope we do more of these impromptu family-style shoots.  They are a lot of fun completely and stress-free.